In 2000 Frank DeFreitas published the Shoebox Holography Book and introduced using inexpensive laser pointers to countless hobbiests. This was a very important development for amateurs as it took the cost for a 5mw laser from $1200 to $5. Now there are hundreds to thousands of amateur holographers worldwide.
In 2006 a large number of surplus Holography Quality Green Lasers (Coherent C315) became available and put Dichromated Gelatin (DCG) within the reach of the amateur holographers. The holography community was surprised at the amazing sensitivity of DCG to green light. It had been assumed that the sensitivity would be non existent. Jeff Blythe responded with the G307 formulation of DCG to increase the speed and sensitivity to these new lasers. Many film suppliers have come and gone from the silver halide market. While more film manufactures have filled in the voids, many amateurs are now making their own film. The favorite formulations are dichromate Gelatin, methylene Blue Sensitized Dichromate Gelatin and Diffusion Method Silver Halide preparations. Jeff Blythe has published very accurate methods for making film in a small lab or garage. A small group of amateurs are even constructing their own pulsed lasers to make holograms of moving objects.